West Side Story
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- This article is about the musical. For the 1961 film, see West Side Story (film).
- For The Game's song, see Westside Story (song).
West Side Story is a musical written by Arthur Laurents (book), Leonard Bernstein (music), and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics), and was originally produced, choreographed, and directed by Jerome Robbins. West Side Story debuted on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theater on September 26, 1957 and played 732 performances before going on tour - a very successful run for the time. It was nominated for Best Musical in 1957, but lost out on the Tony Award to Meredith Willson's The Music Man.
The story explores the enmity between two rival gangs of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds and is based loosely on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The innocent young protagonist, Anton "Tony", who belongs to an established local gang (the Jets), falls in love with Maria, the sister of the leader of the rival gang (the Sharks).
The dark theme, sophisticated music, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in American musical theater, which had leaned previously toward light themes. West Side Story is produced frequently by local theaters and, occasionally, by classical opera companies.
Bernstein's score for the musical has been extremely popular. Some of the songs include "Something's Coming", "Maria", "America", "Somewhere", "Tonight", "Gee, Officer Krupke", "I Feel Pretty", "One Hand, One Heart", and "Cool". Some music he wrote but did not use later became integrated into the Chichester Psalms.
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[edit] Synopsis
[edit] Act 1
In the Prologue, a conflict between two rival teenage gangs, the Jets (2nd generation Americans) and the Sharks (Puerto Ricans) is enacted through dance. Most of the scene is silent. The tension between the gangs is quite visible. The boys are struggling for control of the neighborhood. Accented by police whistles and taunting phrases, the Prologue establishes the fierce rivalry between the two groups.
Following a brief exchange with the ineffective policemen, Lt. Schrank and Officer Krupke, Riff, the leader of the Jets, devises a plan to gain control of the street ("The Jet Song"). The members of the gang boast of their strength, restate their bond to one another and declare their intention to protect their turf. Riff and the Jets decide to initiate a rumble, with control of the neighborhood as a prize for the winning gang.
Riff has a harder time getting his best friend Tony to re-join the gang. Riff convinces Tony to join the Jets at the neighborhood dance where Riff's plan will be put into motion. Tony agrees out of a sense of loyalty to Riff, but expresses his unhappiness with his current life. He feels himself growing away from the gang and envisions a different and better future ("Something's Coming").
Maria, the sister of the Shark leader, Bernardo, has only been in America a short time. She works with Anita, Bernardo's girlfriend, in the bridal shop. Anita is making Maria a dress to wear to the neighborhood dance. Maria sees this dance as the official beginning of her life in this country. Like Tony, she is full of hope. Bernardo arrives with Chino, a quiet, intense member of the Sharks. Maria's family has selected Chino to be her future husband.
A social worker, the Gladhand, introduces the rival gang members and their girls; they dance sociably for about two minutes. Then a challenge dance erupts. Tony and Maria, however, suddenly see one another. In a moment of romantic suspension, they dance together, oblivious of the tension around them. They fall in love. The romantic idyll is interrupted when Bernardo roughly pulls Maria from Tony's arms. Maria is sent home, as Riff and Bernardo arrange a War Council at the local coffee shop which is considered neutral ground.
Unaware of the plan between the two leaders, an ecstatic Tony sings of his newfound love ("Maria"). As he sings, Maria appears on a fire escape above him. They profess their love for each other ("Tonight").
Anita and Rosalia, along with other Puerto Rican girls, are gathered on a city rooftop. They begin to express conflicting views about their lives in the United States ("America").
Before the Sharks get to Doc's the Jets are restless and talk about how they can't wait to bust out and rumble with the Sharks. Riff trys to keep them in control and tells them to be cool.(Cool)They dance and sing as a way to release their stress and as soon as they're done, the Sharks enter and the war council begins.
Doc, tries to convince the Jets not to have a rumble with the Sharks. The gang try to show Doc their pent-up tension they feel. Ignoring Doc, Riff and Bernardo set up the rumble for the next day and agree on weapons. Tony suggests a less dangerous fist fight. After the others leave, Tony dismisses Doc's fear with his conviction nothing can go wrong because he is in love with Maria.
The next day, Maria learns about the rumble from Anita at the Bridal Shop. When Tony arrives, Anita leaves. Maria begs Tony to stop the rumble and he promises her he will. They enact a mock marriage ceremony ("One Hand, One Heart") swearing that "even death can't part us now."
Later that night the boys on both sides prepare for the upcoming rumble, Anita prepares for her date with Bernardo after the rumble, and Tony and Maria sing of the excitement they feel for when they will see each other again ("Tonight Quintet").
As of Maria's request, Tony tries to stop the Rumble. Though Bernardo taunts Tony, ridicules his attempt to make peace, and provokes him in every way, Tony stays his ground. During the Rumble, Riff and Bernardo get in a fight involving knives. Tony warns Riff to back away, but Riff blows him off and continues the fight. Bernardo stabs Riff. In blind fury, Tony angrily kills Bernardo in an act of revenge. The sirens scream; everyone runs except Tony, who stands transfixed at what he has done. Anybodys, a tomboy whose dream is to become a Jet, has followed the gang, and prods Tony to escape, just in time. The curtain comes down on a stage which is empty except for the bodies of Riff and Bernardo.
[edit] Act 2
Unaware of the tragedy under the highway, Maria daydreams during her work hours. Her friends wonder at Maria's strange and sudden euphoria("I Feel Pretty"). Maria mentions marriage, but her friends assume she is thinking about Chino. Chino enters with the news Tony has killed Bernardo. Left alone, Maria is praying; Tony enters through the window. He explains why he killed Bernardo in a moment of anger over Riff's death. Maria forgives him, and they declare their determination to be together. They both imagine a new world where they can live together in peace and acceptance ("Somewhere"). At the end of the dream, Tony and Maria are in her bed, in each other's arms.
In an alley, the bumbling Officer Krupke is questioning the Jets about the murders. The gang ridicules him and the adults (social workers, cops, psychiatrists, and judges) who fail to understand what motivates their behavior ("Gee, Officer Krupke"). Anita arrives at Maria's apartment. Tony escapes through the window, telling Maria to meet him at the drugstore so they can run away together. Anita realizes Tony has been with Maria and turns on Maria in fury for making love to the man who killed her [Maria's] brother ("A Boy Like That"). However, when Maria explains ("I Have a Love"), Anita realizes Maria loves Tony as much as she loved Bernardo. She warns Maria that Chino has a gun and is planning to kill Tony. When Shrank arrives to question Maria, Anita agrees to go to the candy store to tell Tony to wait for her.
Anita is prevented from reaching Tony by the ethnic prejudice of the Jets. The gang's verbal taunting of Anita gets physical and is turning into rape when she is saved by Doc. In her fury and humiliation, Anita lies and tells Tony's buddies Chino has killed Maria. Doc tells Tony, who is hiding in his cellar, Maria and his dreams for the future are gone because she is dead. Feeling there is nothing to live for now, Tony runs out to find Chino, begging for Chino to kill him too. On the street, he finds Maria to be quite alive. As they run towards each other, Chino turns up and shoots Tony. Tony is still alive, but struggling. As Maria the Jets and Sharks flock around the lovers, Maria tries to pull Tony back from the brink of death ("Somewhere Reprise"). Tony dies in her arms. The adults arrive at the scene, and Maria takes Chino's gun. She tells everyone that hatred is what killed Tony and the others, and now she can kill them because their hate has affected her. But she is unable to bring herself to fire it, and she collapses in her grief. She brings the cycle of violence that the gangs have had to an end.
Gradually, all the members of both gangs assemble on either side of Tony's body, suggesting that the feud may be over. The Jets and Sharks form a procession and together they carry Tony offstage. Chino is hustled off to jail by Krupke, while the adults stand by, still helpless.
[edit] Characters
Jets
- Anton "Tony" - Tony is a member of the Polish-American gang called "The Jets"; he falls in love with Maria.
- Riff - The leader of "The Jets"
- Action - A member of Tony and Riff's gang.
- Jets - A-Rab, Baby John, Snowboy, Big Deal, Diesel, Gee-tar, Mouth Piece, Tiger
- Anybodys - A local girl who wishes to be indoctrinated in Tony's gang. However, she is rejected because of her gender.
- Their Girls - Graziella, Velma, Minnie, Clarice, Pauline
Sharks
- Maria - Maria is the sister of Bernardo, the leader of a Puerto Rican gang called "The Sharks"; she falls in love with Tony.
- Bernardo - The leader of "The Sharks", Maria's brother, and Anita's boyfriend.
- Chino - Bernardo's friend and Maria's fiancé.
- Anita - Maria's friend and Bernardo's girlfriend.
- Sharks - Pepe, Indio, Luis, Anxious, Nibbles, Juano, Toro, Moose
- Their Girls - Rosalia, Consuelo, Teresita, Francisca, Estella, Margarita
Adults
- Officer Krupke - Local police officer who is always having to prevent the gangs from feuding.
- Doc - The head of a local grocery store and confidante to Tony.
- Glad Hand
- Lieutenant Schrank
[edit] Shakespearean Counterparts
Most of the characters in West Side Story were inspired from those of Romeo and Juliet.
- Tony/Romeo
Male Lead. Modern-day Montague. Both characters are portrayed as being a devoted lover and growing out of youthful pastimes. Both die in the end: Tony from an enemy's gunshot; Romeo from suicide`by poison.
- Maria/Juliet
Female Lead. Modern-day Capulet. Both are young, naive, forced into engagements with men they do not desire. Maria's survival at the end of the story (despite her threats to commit suicide with the same gun that killed her lover) departs from Shakespeare's ending wherein Juliet willingly commits suicide with Romeo's dagger.
- Chino/Paris
The Embittered Fiancé. Both are engaged to the female lead. Paris dies from a duel with Romeo in Act V. However, Chino survives after having shot Tony to death in the final scene.
- Bernardo/Tybalt
Ring-Leader of the Sharks and Capulets, respectively. Both are extremely aggressive and filled with prejudices. While Tybalt is Juliet's cousin, Bernardo was written as Maria's brother and protector, creating a closer familial bond.
- Riff/Mercutio
Friend to Tony/Romeo. Both men are indifferent and dismissive to the male lead's new romance and/or life goals. Both men are killed by their enemy's ring-leader, and their friends kill their assassin in retaliation, resulting in a path that leads to tragedy.
- Baby John/Benvolio
Friend to Tony/Romeo. Although he consorts with the Jets/Montagues, he is opposed to the bitter rivalry between the two gangs/families and wishes the fighting to stop. He is always encouraging his fellows to leave the scene of battle and not participate, but his wishes are often ignored by the more aggressive gang/family members.
- Anita/Nurse
Friend and confidante to the female lead. However, Anita is also Bernardo's girlfriend, which adds considerable interpersonal conflict. Both know about the romance between the leading characters, but choose not to subvert it. In fact, Nurse aids Juliet in her secret marriage to Romeo. Anita reluctantly chooses not to reveal Maria and Tony's relationship to Bernardo (her boyfriend), though she angrily denounces it to Maria a few scenes after Bernardo's death. Also, in the musical, Anita's lie to the Jets after the attempted rape is the impetus for Doc's mistaken information to Tony, where in the Shakespearean play, Nurse is unaware of the truth that Juliet is alive.
- Doc/Friar Laurence
Confidante/father figure to the male lead, as their real father figure is dead/uncaring about them. Friar Laurence blesses and officiates Romeo and Juliet's private nuptials. Doc loans a considerable amount of money to Tony so that he may flee New York City with Maria. Keeping with a theme of tragic irony, both characters unwittingly send the male leads to their deaths by relating the tragic "news" that Maria/Juliet has died.
- Schrank/Prince
Authority figure attempting to keep the fragile peace between the warring sides. However, Schrank is sympathetic to the Jets, unlike the neutral Prince. Moreover, the Prince is neutral despite being a member of one of the families.
- Krupke/Peter
Both considerably less intelligent than any other character in both plays, and both of a lower social status. Whereas Krupke is Schrank's underling, Peter is a servant to the Nurse of Romeo and Juliet. Peter is sent to invite a list of people to a party, but cannot read - a detail paid homage to in that the Jets' mockery of Krupke has him holding a newspaper upside-down.
In addition, the original ending was more similar to that of Romeo and Juliet. After giving her monologue about how she can kill because "now" she "has hate," Maria fatally shoots Chino and then kills herself, in despair and the hope that she will see Tony again in death. The adults arrive on the scene too late, and Anita tells them the full story, resulting in the Jets and Sharks resolving their differences. It was described by preview audiences as "too depressing," so the producers went with the less tragic, more hopeful ending in the final version.
[edit] Productions
The original 1957 stage production starred Larry Kert as Tony and Carol Lawrence as Maria.
George Chakiris, who won an Academy Award as Bernardo in the 1961 film version of West Side Story, originated the role of Riff in the 1958 London stage premiere.
In 1984, Bernstein decided to re-record the musical, conducting his own music for the first time. Generally known as the "operatic version" of West Side Story, it stars Kiri Te Kanawa as Maria, José Carreras as Tony, Tatiana Troyanos as Anita, Kurt Ollman as Riff, and Marilyn Horne as the offstage voice who sings "Somewhere". It won a Grammy Award for Best Cast Show Album in 1985 and the recording process was filmed as a documentary.
A 1980 Broadway revival starred Debbie Allen as Anita. A 1987 tour starred Jack Wagner as Tony. A 1995 tour starred Marcie Harriell as Maria and H.E. Greer as Tony. A 1998 tour starred Rikki Lee Travolta as Tony. A 2002 tour starred Natasha Harper as Maria.
Several dances from West Side Story were presented as the featured performances in the 1989 production Jerome Robbins' Broadway.
[edit] Musical Numbers
[edit] Act One
- Prologue (dance sequence)
- Jet Song - Riff and the Jets
- Something's Comin' - Tony
- The dance at the gym (dance sequence)
- Maria - Tony
- Tonight (Balcony Scene) - Tony and Maria
- America - Anita, Rosalia and the Shark Girls (movie version is rivalry between males and females. Musical may include Men)
- Cool - Riff and the Jets
- One Hand, One Heart - Tony and Maria
- Tonight Ensemble - Tony, Maria, Riff, Bernardo, Anita (and, optionally, the Jets and the Sharks)
- The Rumble (dance sequence)
[edit] Act Two
- I Feel Pretty - Maria, Rosalia, Consuela, and Francisca
- Somewhere - A Girl
- Interpolating: Ballet Sequence
- Gee, Officer Krupke - Action and the Jets (mainly Action, Diesel, A-Rab and Baby John)
- A Boy Like That/I Have A Love - Maria and Anita
- Taunting scene (dance sequence)
- Finale (Tony and Maria)
[edit] Orchestration
The score for West Side Story was orchestrated by Bernstein himself, with assistance from Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal. The orchestra personnel required for a proper performance of the score is among the largest in the musical theater repertoire. The score calls for five woodwind players, seven brasses, five percussionists, a keyboardist, a guitarist, and twelve string players. In all, 30 musicians are needed to perform the score as intended by the composer.
[edit] Basis upon tritone
The work is notable for being largely based upon the interval of a tritone, also known as an augmented fourth or diminished fifth. This interval, the basic dissonance, normally represents tension or unrest and so fits very well with the story of the musical. The tritone is most obvious in the first two notes of the song "Maria" (in this case the distance between E-natural and B-flat), but there are instances of the interval in nearly every number in the musical. The first three notes of the song span a tritone and then a rising half step, a motif first introduced in the Prologue that is very important in the entire musical, appearing in numbers such as the "Mambo" and "Rumble" and forming the both ostinato bass line and the melody of the song "Cool." In addition, the accompaniment of the song "Gee, Officer Krupke" switches between the home key of the melody and the key a tritone away (e.g., C and F-sharp) and the introduction to the song "One Hand, One Heart" is based on the tritone-half step motive. The tritone appears for the final time near the very end of the piece, where several times a pianissimo C major chord in the high registers of the orchestra is interrupted by a low F-sharp in the bass register. Only in the final bar is the C chord allowed to remain uninterrupted, thus creating a very last-minute release of tension.
[edit] Recordings
There are three recordings of West Side Story:
- The 1957 original Broadway cast album, with Carol Lawrence as Maria and Larry Kert as Tony.
- The 1961 movie soundtrack, with Marni Nixon singing Maria's role (played in the film by Natalie Wood) and Richard Beymer as Tony. It won the Grammy Award for Best Sound Track Album or Recording of Original Cast from Motion Picture or Television.
- A 1985 studio recording of the "operatic version", with Bernstein conducting, Kiri Te Kanawa singing Maria and José Carreras singing Tony. It won the Grammy Award for Best Cast Show Album.
Songs from the musical have been performed by various artists and groups, including Barbara Streisand and Ferrante & Teicher.
[edit] References in popular culture
- The Buddy Rich Big Band arranged and recorded "West Side Story Medley" on the 1966 album Buddy Rich's Swingin' New Big Band.
- The Hindi movie Josh, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai was inspired by West Side Story.
- 1960s progressive rock band The Nice recorded a cover version of "America" in the form of an instrumental protest song (much to the annoyance of Bernstein [1]). Keith Emerson would continue to perform it in concerts with his later groups Emerson, Lake, and Palmer and 3.
- The video for the Michael Jackson 1983 song "Beat It" was inspired by "The Rumble".
- The BBC used the song America as the theme song for their telecasts of the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
- Selena, the Tejano singer, recorded the song "A Boy Like That" on March 1995 just 7 days before her death, so this song turned out to be her last recording. On early 1996, that song was released as the first single from the album The Songs Of West Side Story.
- In 1997, British band Pet Shop Boys recorded a cover version of "Somewhere" which also used elements of "I Feel Pretty". During their 1997 series of concerts at the Savoy Theatre, London, they used an extended version of "Somewhere" that started with "One Hand, One Heart".
- The mid-1990s Animaniacs segment Goodfeathers spoofed the musical, going so far as to parody nearly every song from "Maria" (as "Carluta") to "America" ("Perching on Scorsese's Head").
- In the episode "The One with Chandler's Dad" of the popular TV series Friends, the song "I Feel Pretty" is sung during Chandler's fathers all-male gay burlesque show "Viva Las Gaygas!".
- In comedian Robin Williams' stand-up show "Live on Broadway" he talks about the fact that before the 9/11 attacks you could take a 4-inch blade onto an airplane. He's seen saying "What, are they afraid you're gonna do a little West Side Story? "Going down the aisle! Crazy aisle!" This was edited out of the U.S. release of the filmed version of the performance.
- The character Paul Viti from the 2002 movie Analyze That sings a variety of West Side Story songs to try and prove he is legitimately insane.
- In the 2003 Adam Sandler movie Anger Management, Jack Nicholson and Sandler sing "I Feel Pretty" in several scenes of the movie as a running gag, the most prominent of these being a scene where they pull over on the freeway and Nicholson forces him to sing the song.
- In the Codename: Kids Next Door episode Operation L.O.V.E., the school play is West Side Story.
- The rap outfit OutKast loosely based the music video for their 2004 single "Roses" on West Side Story.
- World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) spoofed the musical in a commercial for the 2005 Royal Rumble. One gang was composed of RAW wrestlers and the other of SmackDown wrestlers singing about how they will be the "last one standing" at the Royal Rumble. A fight quickly broke out between the two gangs before the TV cameras cut to Vince McMahon waking up, revealing he had dreamed the whole thing. The bit ended with McMahon saying "That wasn't the Rumble I had in mind!".
- The song "I Feel Pretty" was used by Nike for a commercial featuring Maria Sharapova during the 2006 U.S. Open (tennis).
- In an episode of Family Guy, the father has a flashback to when he was trying to get into the Jets, and he asks when the rumble, the gang only correcting him on his dance moves. A spoof on the way many of the rumble scenes have dancing in them. Another episode in which Brian and Stewie enlist in the army, a platoon of trainees are seen running laps. The drill sergeant begins to sing a version of the traditional "lap-running song" based on broadway plays. The lyrics are as follows: "West Side Story, Anything Goes: two of my favorite Broadway shows! Miss Saigon and Cabaret: overrated, I must say!" The entire platoon then proceeds to dance to the tune of "Mambo".
[edit] External links
| Musicals of Leonard Bernstein |
|---|
| On the Town • Trouble in Tahiti • Wonderful Town • Candide • West Side Story • 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue • A Quiet Place • The Race to Urga |
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